EP3: PSo Episode 3 sales not so hot...

[faceless]

Here are the Nintendo GameCube sales numbers for March 2004 (Top 15)

Rank Title Revenue Units
1 POKEMON COLOSSEUM $16,562,150 342,603
2 METAL GEAR:TWIN SNAKE $4,858,605 122,435
3 MARIO KART: DOUBLE $3,285,578 68,427
4 HARVEST MOON:WONDRFUL $2,716,202 68,126
5 FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL $3,004,271 61,443
6 SONIC HEROES $2,796,075 58,582
7 SUPER SMASH BRO MELEE $1,519,935 51,950
8 BOND 007: EVERYTHING $2,246,287 45,905
9 LUIGI'S MANSION $815,738 43,179
10 MVP BASEBALL 2004 $1,554,516 31,986
11 SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE $852,497 29,446
12 MARIO PARTY 5 $1,405,631 28,391
13 PAC-MAN PLAYER'S BND $474,649 24,327
14 SCOOBY-DOO: MYSTERY $810,327 21,383
15 SUPER MONKEY BALL $412,531 21,311

as you can see, Episode 3 didn't make the top 15... meaning it sold under 21,311 units...

comments?

[Getintothegame]

Heh, but it was in the Player's Choice most wanted for some time. And some of those games have been out for a long time, for instance, Super Smash Brothers.

[faceless]

this is sales for *March* 2004

not any other months, or years, or decades, just march '04...

[EJ]

my only comment is wow smash bros is still selling well http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_eek.gif

[HaLLa]

Yea not many online. Especially compared to 1 and 2

[Akihara]

It sold 17,074 copies for March. Granted its only one month, but traditionally games sell the most copies in their first month. For comparison, Ep 1&2 has sold a total of 186,209 LTD. I don't think Ep3 will come anywhere near that. I figured the numbers would be low, but not that low.

[Nai_Calus]

It essentially didn't come out here. Only Gamestop got it in, and only as many copies as were reserved. I was there when the package arrived. A tiny little box containing 4 copies.

Nothing wrong with card games, but it probably did seriously hurt sales, judging from the 'Ew! Card games are lame!' response here at PSOW before release. If you can't even get your -current- players to get your new version, good luck with getting -new- players. :-/

[Arislan]

Still, it ended up doing well enough, given expected sales rates when compared to other MMORPGs. Most MMORPGs (or any online game that chanrges a fee) is considered a bare success at selling 10,000 copies within the first 6 months. This s generally what is required for a profit. Ep3 did this in the first month, and will continue to dribble in sales for the next 5, likely putting it up over most MMORPGs in usership, even give that half of the Ep3 users don't play online.

[BogusKun]

Not many stores sold Phantasy Star in my area in the past, i.e. Target, K-Mart (what was left of it), Wal-Mart...

When I check some of these major shopping stores they never seem to have it.

As Nintendo's only online game series, parents and such... parents won't buy the game for it's content. Some children aren't ready to play as game that may seem to have certain affects on children. The community is already messed up.

Bad Lauguage is an example.

Then put it this way... it costs extra money to play the game 8USD/7YEN then the need for an ISP. Not every family can afford to pay 24-58 bucks a month just to play (ISPDialup-Cable).

I had a budget and I knew paying to play a game like PSO was just too stupid. The content is dumb, nothing has changed. You can buy a new game or 3 with just that much.

That's why it doesn't sell.

[-STE-]

Episode 3 sold less on jp too.
Maybe people dont like card games : )

[AndyPandy]

I think you have to ask yourself how reflective of the game playing market these sales are....I mean come on...SCOOBY-DOO 14!!

[Lopez]

My view is .."so" i love it..so i dont care about charts or otherwise.

[Zalana]

SonicTeam tried to take a different approach on a new game an I guess it didn't catch many people's eyes. ;(

[Malkavian]

Both PSO Ep1&2 and Ep3 had really low or inexistant advertising and they planned to sell few copies sending a ridiculous amount of copies to shops.
When the company already thinks the game will sell bad there's no much to do.

Maybe they will ship 5k of Ep3 copies for whole Europe... And im not exaggerating.

[EJ]

There too many casual gamers who buy crappy games while most goods are left in the dust with little or no advertising for them. Just my thoughts http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_smile.gif

[Alielle]

I wonder how many people who buy this game play it online, too.

[BogusKun]

Concerning the advertising issue... Advertised games have more purchasing power over games that do not advertise... TV advertisemnt overrules most forms of media.

A game like Final Fantasy 7 sells more because of this formula

Franchise + Advertisement (TV, Radio, Magazine)

over a game like Phantasy Star Online

Franchise + Less Advertisement (Magazine)

My response to the last poster... The majority (maybe 90%) plays PSO online... which is the reason most people buy it outside of it's fanbase.